"We cannot seek or attain health, wealth, learning, justice or kindness in general. Action is always specific, concrete, individualized, unique"
About this Quote
Jowett snaps a rubber band around a temptation that still defines educated life: mistaking noble abstractions for lived practice. Health, wealth, learning, justice, kindness - he strings them like polished trophies, then refuses to let them stand as destinations. You do not "do" justice the way you do a pull-up; you decide whether to believe a witness, how to sentence a defendant, whom to hire, what to forgive, what to fund. The moral life, for Jowett, is not a poster on a wall but a series of situated choices that leave fingerprints.
The line lands with the clean authority of a theologian who was also a Victorian institutional operator (Master of Balliol, translator of Plato): someone steeped in big ideals and the daily compromises of power. Its subtext is a warning to reformers and self-improvers alike. If your goal is "kindness in general", you can keep it untested, safely theoretical. Specificity is where virtue becomes expensive: a concrete act costs time, money, reputation, comfort. It also becomes accountable. You can debate "justice" endlessly; you can audit a particular policy.
There's a quietly modern critique here of managerial thinking before management-speak existed. Metrics, missions, manifestos - they promise moral clarity at scale, while actual agency happens in unrepeatable moments. Jowett doesn't deny ideals; he demotes them to guiding stars. The work is always local, personal, and inconveniently particular, which is exactly why it counts.
The line lands with the clean authority of a theologian who was also a Victorian institutional operator (Master of Balliol, translator of Plato): someone steeped in big ideals and the daily compromises of power. Its subtext is a warning to reformers and self-improvers alike. If your goal is "kindness in general", you can keep it untested, safely theoretical. Specificity is where virtue becomes expensive: a concrete act costs time, money, reputation, comfort. It also becomes accountable. You can debate "justice" endlessly; you can audit a particular policy.
There's a quietly modern critique here of managerial thinking before management-speak existed. Metrics, missions, manifestos - they promise moral clarity at scale, while actual agency happens in unrepeatable moments. Jowett doesn't deny ideals; he demotes them to guiding stars. The work is always local, personal, and inconveniently particular, which is exactly why it counts.
Quote Details
| Topic | Wisdom |
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